Cedar Sweep o castitas lilium

@Zaavier

this time she did not stray from the copse so far; she kept the borders within sight and moved into the beautifully scented glade just beyond. here, despite her gravid state, she was able to fell a fowl, and eshamun took it into the shade of a great trunk to feed. it sated her hunger -- for now -- and she lay upon the emerald grass. the babes moved, she knew, but she only felt tickles of sensation here and there. there was much time before they were born, a moon at least.

and yet the growing of them made the canaanite quite tired, and so it came to pass that eshamun found herself slumbering in the shaded warmth of the summer sun, her jaws parting in a wide yawn before she dozed off to the cacaphony of singing insects and trilling birds.

Here he was. Zaavier had found himself a beautiful and peaceful forest filled with lush cedars. He had contemplated calling this his home, but soon decided it was far too close to Charley's borders. Even though he was friends with the brute, he didn't want to be that close.

So he moseyed along, eyeing the fowl with a rumbling stomach. He attempted to catch one, but it ended in a failure. Tail lashed as he gkanced around, catching sight of a female lying in the sun. She looked very peaceful, and he stared at her for a moment. With a closer look, Zaavier could see that she was fat. Very fat. Too fat just after a famine. She must be pregnant, he thought to himself, smirking just a bit. Maybe he could just sneak away without her noticing...

alas, the woman, sensing someone near, let her eyes open and come to rest on the tall, ruddy form of a stranger. he reminded her of khalba, but as her sense cleared from sleep, trepidation set in, and she stood to her feet. how long had he watched her sleep? the canaanite's viridian eyes appraised the other silently; a step forward was taken. "hello." as always, eshamun was open, kind. she was the face of the malkaria, after all.

he seemed strong. hale. unaffected by the previous famine, but perhaps he had been fed much good food since it had ended. the woman grew self-conscious beneath his eyes but did not founder. 

Hello. Damn. Guess he wasn't as quiet as he thought he was. Zaavier paused mid step and turned his large head to meet the woman's gaze. "Hey," he replied, turning to face her with a high tail. "How's your day goin'," he rumbled on.  He plonked himself down on his bottom, tail swishing the debris behind him.

he turned and she smiled, for he was unthreatening, and in fact inviting with his very gentleness. "it was going well, until i was awoken," eshamun murmured lightly, teasing him with her viridian gaze, "but perhaps i should know better than to lie out in strange lands aslumber." she paused. "what brings you about this way?"

He nodded silently as she spoke. She was nice enough, and he was somewhat glad he stumbled upon her and not someone else. She explained her reasoning, then asked him what he was doing here. He thought for a moment. What was he doing here? "Well, my claim lays just over there," he gestured to the hidden valley, "So I thought I'd explore a bit." It wasn't a lie, that was for sure.

she followed his gaze and nodded, rising to approach him quietly, the roundedness of her sides visible with each steps. "may i look? i shall not draw near," eshamun added gently. he need have no fear of her -- there was nothing she could do to such a brute. she herself was in more danger if zaavier should suddenly turn upon her -- it was a risk she took.

Her intrest grew as he spoke of his territory and she rose to her paws, striding towards him, although her eyes were set in the derection of the Strath. She asked to see, and he furrowed his brows. Should he? He didn't want to make enemies, so he simply nodded. "As long as I come with you then," he chuffed, narrowing his eyes. 

Upon the first suspicious act this woman made on the trip, he would turn her down.

she nodded, stepping to his side. of course. she understood the reasoning behind the man's caution, but what trouble could a pregnant woman bring? of course, that was not all eshamun pretended to be -- she had the strength of the malkaria behind her, as well as molech's blessing, but there was not a reason to cause harm, not to a neighbor upon which she might need to rely.